Economic growth is at the heart of the Ottawa Board of Trade mission. We exist to strengthen the business environment, expand opportunity, and ensure our communities remain competitive and prosperous. And what we know is that closing the gender gap is an economic imperative.
Across Canada and around the world, the evidence is clear: when women participate fully in the economy, GDP rises, businesses perform better, and communities thrive. Top research shows that advancing gender equality could add as much as $150 billion to Canada’s GDP, the equivalent of creating an entirely new sector in our national economy.
For business leaders, that is not just a statistic. It is a missed opportunity.
What the gender gap really means
When we talk about the gender gap, we are referring to persistent disparities in economic participation, compensation, leadership representation, entrepreneurship, and access to capital.
Despite decades of progress, women in Canada still earn roughly 87 cents for every dollar earned by men. Women remain underrepresented in high-growth sectors like technology, engineering, and finance, and women entrepreneurs remain significantly underfunded.
Even in advanced economies, progress toward gender parity is slow. Without decisive action, some gender gaps could take 30 to 180 years to close at current rates.
For a country facing productivity challenges, labour shortages, and increasing global competition, that timeline is simply unacceptable.
Why the gap persists
The reasons women remain underleveraged in our economy are complex but well understood. One of the largest and least acknowledged factors is unpaid care work.
Women continue to perform the majority of unpaid household and caregiving labour, from raising children to caring for aging parents. If unpaid work in Canada were compensated at market value, economists estimate it would contribute roughly $400 billion annually to the economy, nearly comparable to entire major sectors like manufacturing or real estate.
Yet this labour remains largely invisible in GDP calculations and insufficiently supported by workplace structures or public policy.
Access to capital is another persistent barrier. Women entrepreneurs receive less than five percent of venture capital funding, despite evidence that women-led companies often outperform peers in capital efficiency.
Health also plays a role. Research shows Canadian women spend 24% more of their lives in poor health than men, which has direct implications for workforce participation and productivity. Closing this women’s health gap alone could unlock $37 billion in annual GDP.
These factors intersect. When caregiving responsibilities constrain work, when health challenges limit productivity, and when capital remains difficult to access, women’s economic contributions are stifled, and the entire economy pays the price.
The cost of the gap
The economic loss is staggering.
The C.D. Howe Institute estimates that closing gender gaps in workforce participation, representation, and hours worked could boost Canada’s GDP by at least $150 billion. Globally, McKinsey estimates that advancing gender parity could add trillions of dollars to economic output.
The numbers reveal a simple truth: leaving half of humanity underutilized is one of the most expensive inefficiencies any economy can tolerate.
Beyond GDP, there are real opportunity costs, untapped leadership, stalled innovation, and unrealized human potential. Every woman whose career or company fails to advance because of systemic barriers represents progress we never achieve.
Why business must lead
Boards of trades and chambers of commerce occupy a unique position in the economy. We convene business leaders. We influence policy. We accelerate partnerships. And we translate economic priorities into action across sectors.
That gives us both a responsibility and an opportunity.
Economic prosperity requires unlocking the full potential of our workforce. It requires diverse leadership around decision-making tables. And it requires ensuring that opportunity flows to the entrepreneurs, innovators, and builders who will shape the future.
Closing the gender gap directly advances our mission of building a stronger and more inclusive economy. It is the smart thing to do.
The Ottawa Board of Trade is committed to this mission and has made it tangible by joining Canada’s 50–30 Challenge, a national initiative encouraging organizations to achieve gender parity in leadership and significant representation of equity-deserving groups. This pledge reflects a belief that leadership tables must reflect the talent, diversity, and perspectives shaping our economy.
The Ottawa opportunity
Ottawa stands at a powerful intersection of innovation, policy, and entrepreneurship.
Our city is home to world-class universities, globally competitive technology companies, and one of the most educated workforces in Canada. We also have a growing community of women entrepreneurs and leaders driving change across industries.
That gives us an advantage. And a responsibility.
Imagine an Ottawa where women-founded companies are among the fastest-scaling businesses in the country. Where investment capital flows to a truly representative set of innovators. Where every major economic table, from corporate boardrooms to startup ecosystems, includes women as equal partners in shaping strategy and growth.
We can make Ottawa a national model for closing the gender gap, not decades from now, but within this generation.
Investing to win
Closing the gender gap is about competitiveness, prosperity, and the future of our city. The economies that succeed in the decades ahead will be those that harness the full capabilities of their people.
That means investing in women entrepreneurs and innovators. It means addressing childcare and workplace flexibility as economic infrastructure. It means treating women’s health as a key issue. And it means ensuring leadership pipelines reflect the diversity of our communities.
At the Ottawa Board of Trade, we will continue to champion these priorities, because an economy that works for everyone is an economy that wins.
For the Ottawa business community, the evidence is clear and the opportunity is undeniable.
Now it is time to act.
Let’s make our nation’s capital a leader in gender equality. Let’s show the world what happens when we unleash women’s full economic power.